


Give Me Space

by manotaurus



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 22:08:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15519657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manotaurus/pseuds/manotaurus
Summary: Pacifica and Dipper go on a date and find an abandoned observatory.





	Give Me Space

As requested by anon

The summer before her freshman year of college is when Pacifica finally gave in and took Dipper up on his offer to go on a date with him. It took years of convincing and reassurance that there would be no ghosts, no demons, and most importantly, no Lilliputtians. Those things gave her the "creeps", and frankly, she was still a little peeved at the Pines family for dragging her into that.

Her date with Dipper was only days away, and with every day that passed, she became more tense. Pacifica had allowed him to plan the whole thing, although she began to regret her decision when he wouldn't disclose any of the details. For all she knew, he could have planned something involving the supernatural, which she had enough experience with to last her a lifetime. The obscurity of it all didn't help with her nerves, however, there was one thing that would: smoking.

Pacifica despised the smell of cigarettes on her fingers. It was one of the many reasons she hated smoking, but it was the only way she could relieve the stress that came from her parents' constant criticism. Fortunately, a few years back, she had found her late grandmother's ornate cigarette holder while rifling through some old boxes.

The days had gone by rather slowly, unlike her carton of cigarettes, which had run out quite rapidly. The day was finally upon her, though, and she was only slightly relieved. There was something about the concept of going on a date with Dipper that just didn't sit well with her. She liked him, she really did, but she still had a lot of pent-up hostility towards him for Weirdmageddon, even if it was prophesied to happen no matter what. Maybe if the Pines weren't in her life, she wouldn't have been roped into fighting face-to-face with that triangle thing.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a doorbell. She took a deep breath as she grabbed a fresh pack of cigarettes and shoved them in her purse.

Standing at the door was a semi-dressed up Dipper. Pacifica was almost impressed until she looked down and saw his beat up sneakers. Her expression must have been rather readable, because Dipper was soon explaining himself.

"I, uh, well, we might be doing a bit of walking, so I figured these might be the best option," he explained, kicking one of his feet out, "anyways, you look beautiful today."

Pacifica opened her mouth to thank him, but not before Dipper began to ramble, "I mean, you look great every day, I just meant, uh, you look extra great right now. Maybe it's the moonlight, Wait, I mean, even in the day-"

"Thank you," Pacifica interjected, "I know what you meant."

Dipper offered a sheepish grin, scratching his neck in embarrassment and pointing his thumb behind him. "You ready?"

With only a nod in response, Dipper led the way to Stan's car, who had graciously let his great nephew borrow his beloved car for his big date.

Once they pulled out of the driveway, Pacifica knew there was no turning back. "So, what do you have planned for us?" she asked, a hint of apprehension in her tone.

"It's a secret," he answered, "you'll like it, though."

Pacifica wasn't so sure about that, though. She didn't ask any other questions during the car ride, which was strangely pleasant until they began to slow down on the outskirts of the forest. They pulled over, and as Dipper was rummaging around in the trunk, Pacifica felt her hands tremble with panic. What were they doing in the forest? Monster hunting? Vampire slaying? It was all too much. She searched her purse for a smoke, but before she could light it, Dipper opened the door for her.

"What's that?" Pacifica demanded, pointing to the large, black bag Dipper had strapped on his back.

He shifted it to his front, unzipping it to reveal its contents. Strawberries, blueberries, a blanket, and a jar of what appears to be freshly squeezed lemonade.

"You really planned this out, didn't you?" Pacifica half-teased.

Dippers cheeks grew red. "Well, a little bit," he admitted, slinging the bag over his shoulder once again.

Although she still felt a little uneasy going on a date with one of the Pines, the anxiety she felt before was almost completely gone.

"I figured we could take a walk and have moonlight picnic somewhere along the way. I bet there's a few clearings around here," he suggested.

Pacifica nodded as a small grin approached her lips, "Sure, why not," she quipped, "it's not like I have anything better to do."

As they began down the path leading into the woods, Pacifica understood why Dipper chose to wear sneakers. They had been walking for five minutes at the most, and her feet were already sore. 

"So, how was your day?" Dipper inquired, clearly not knowing how to make small talk.

Pacifica shrugged. "It was good," she lied, knowing very well she spent most of the day dreading what was to come.

"Oh, well, that's good," Dipper replied. 

The rest of the hike was notably quiet. Pacifica hated silence, especially for long periods of time. This one didn't bother her too much, though.

Dipper stopped in his tracks. "Hey, what's that?" he questioned, eyeing some sort of building, "should we go check it out?"

Pacifica was about to object when Dipper grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the rounded structure.

As they approached the building, the unnerved blonde began shouting. "Wait, wait, Dipper," she exclaimed, "what if it's haunted or something?"

"It's just an observatory, I doubt any ghosts want to hang out here," Dipper responded, "even if they do, you've dealt with a lot worse. Did you forget about that lumberjack ghost you faced when you were, like, twelve?"

"No, he's still in my nightmares, like, every night," Pacifica muttered under her breath. Even if that situation was her family's fault, she still couldn't help but blame Dipper a little bit for letting the ghost escape.

Dipper stopped once again and turned to Pacifica. "Wanna have our picnic up there?" he asked.

"Uh, no," she asserted.

"Oh, come on!" Dipper implored, "it's not haunted! And imagine how great the stars look from up there."

If it weren't for the unusual circumstances, she would have argued until she got her way. But, as impossible as it seemed, there was someone even more stubborn than Pacifica: her date.

"Fine, let's just go already," she caved.

As they made their way up the many steps of the old observatory, Pacifica began to realize what a huge mistake she had made by wearing wedges.

"Wow, this place is pretty empty," Dipper stated, "it's probably been vacant for a while now."

The hoo of an owl contradicted his statement, wings flapping at the pair. The bird swooped down at the hunched down pair, as they were trying to dodge it.

"I guess it's not totally vacant," Pacifica teased, crouched with her arms over her head.

"Yeah, yeah," Dipper chuckled. "Why aren't you freaking out, anyways? This is pretty Alfred Hitchcock-esque, aren't you scared?"

Pacifica shook her head. "When I was a kid, I won a chicken at your uncle's Mystery Fair. Owls are just...nocturnal chickens."

Dipper shrugged, accepting her flawed logic.

Eventually, the owl calmed down and flew out of the observatory through the dome's opening.

The two stood up with an almost simultaneous sigh. Dipper dropped his backpack on the wooden floor, investigating some of the dust-covered gadgets. He began tinkering with an old computer, similar to the one he found in Ford's bunker all those years ago, until he heard Pacifica murmuring something near the large telescope pointing out of the dome.

Dipper made his way towards his date. "This place is so cool, there's another one of McGucket's computers over there," he gestured to the desk he was sitting at, "I wonder if this place used to be Ford's."

Pacifica could feel her temper begin to rise. She rarely ever thought about the old hillbilly, but when she did, all the emotions came flooding back. What did he need a mansion for? Northwest manor was her family's pride and joy, and now there's probably a bunch of raccoons infesting the place with rabies.

"Anyways, ready to go eat some strawberries?" Dipper offered.

"I thought you'd never ask," Pacifica responded.

Dipper unloaded the bag and diligently arranged the picnic in the middle of the observatory, in the perfect spot to view the stars. The couple sat down on the blanket and dug into the fruit.

"I'm really glad we did this," Dipper mentioned in between spooning blueberries into his mouth, "and I'm even more glad we found this place."

"Yeah?" Pacifica questioned. "Why's that?"

"Well, I'm almost sure this is my uncle's observatory," Dipper answered, "so I'm really excited to ask him questions about it when I get home."

That guy, Ford, the reason Weirdmageddon even became possible in the first place. And what's even worse is that Dipper's basically a carbon copy of that old nerd.

"You mind if I smoke?" Pacifica raised an eyebrow, not actually asking for permission. She reached into her bag and pulled out a square, quickly attaching it to her cigarette holder. Soon enough it was lit, and with a drag, she felt whole again.

"So what happened with the telescope?" Dipper nodded his head towards the large mechanism.

Pacifica exhaled some smoke with a slight shake of her head, "it doesn't work."

"Maybe I can fix it," he voiced, "maybe Ford left a manual or something. Wait, what am I thinking? He built this himself, he probably put the manual in the shack with the others." 

Dipper began to ramble on about his uncle again, and to Pacifica's displeasure, he didn't stop until he noticed her pulling out another cigarette.

"What?" she questioned, self-conscious from the way Dipper was staring at her.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied, "it's just...those are really bad for you."

Pacifica looked down at the pack she had placed on the picnic blanket. The words 'smoking kills' were written in large, bold letters right on the front. "Yeah, I know," she retorted.

"All the parts seem to be in the right places, I don't know why this isn't working," Dipper announced, a puzzled expression on his face, "maybe, maybe it's an interdimensional telescope! Or something less stupid."

"Well, what dimension do you see?" Pacifica mocked, standing up to join her date near the telescope.

Dipper laughed, staring through the eyepiece once more, "I just don't get it."

"Maybe the lens just needs a good cleaning. I mean, it's been sitting out for, like, forever."

"Yeah, maybe that'll help," Dipper agreed. He grasped the aperture in attempt to swivel the telescope towards him, but heard something rumbling around inside. He loosened the objective lens and peered down the optical tube. "Quick, give me a flashlight."

Pacifica turned on her phone's flashlight before handing it to him. "A 'please' would have been nice," she muttered.

"Is that...a cannonball?" Dipper examined, "that's weird." He reached down into the telescope, and it was completely empty other than the large piece of steel at the bottom.

"How," Pacifica began, "why is there a cannon here?"

Dipper swiftly pulled his arm out of the cannon, "Maybe it was one of McGucket's inventions. Or, should I say, creations. I mean he didn't invent the cannon."

Pacifica rolled her eyes at the mention of his name on instinct, "but why?"

"I mean, he did have a death ray and, like, a bunch of robots. He just likes weaponry, I guess."

The blonde brought the cigarette to her lips. "I doubt this thing even works, there's no fuse."

Dipper looked around the contraption, and Pacifica was right, there was no fuse in sight. "Check it out," he said, climbing into the cannon, "I'm human cannonball."

Pacifica spoke, "that's pretty good."

"Yeah?" Dipper grinned, "I'm a pretty funny guy some of the time."

Leaning onto the base of the cannon, Pacifica took another inhale before ashing it off the size of the building. "The key word is _some_ of the time." Her hand slipped, and knocked the focuser onto the floor with a loud clank, revealing the fuse. 

"What was-" Dipper began to inquire, but was interrupted by Pacifica's lips firmly pressed against his own. It was pure bliss, for Dipper, at least.

Pacifica opened her eyes in the midst of the kiss, looking down at the fuse that was oh-so close to her cigarette. The urge to light it was odd, but stronger than most other impulses. The fuse was probably older than her, what could possibly happen? At most, it would catch for a brief second, give him a good scare, and maybe they would laugh about it later. Or, maybe he would get tossed a few feet and land on some foilage down below.

Dipper leaned away with a content sigh. "That was amazing," he expressed, "I feel like I'm flying."

"Maybe you will," Pacifica replied, eyebrows raised. She lowered her cigarette onto the fuse, and not before Dipper got out a quick "wait, what?", he was off.

Blasting off to a hundred million miles from Earth, Pacifica watched Dipper with her mouth agape. That expression of shock soon turned into a grin from ear to ear. "I guess the Big Dipper finally burnt out."


End file.
